Franz Rothenbacher
Encyclopedia
Franz Rothenbacher is a German sociologist.
at the University of Mannheim
and received his diploma degree in 1981.
Afterwords until mid-1982 he was research assistant at the special research group 3 Microanalytic Foundations of Social Policy, Frankfurt a.M. and Mannheim (Sonderforschungsbereich 3 Mikroanalytische Grundlagen der Gesellschaftspolitik).
From mid-1982 until 1988 Rothenbacher worked as lecturer and research fellow at the chair for sociology of Wolfgang Zapf at the Faculty for Social Sciences of the University of Mannheim. In 1988 he received a philosophers doctoral degree in sociology.
Since 1989 Rothenbacher is a social researcher at the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research
(MZES) at the infrastructural department Eurodata.
in Germany, also known as modernization
. He analysed central long-term macrosocial processes
of change in the social subsystems of family, health, housing, and in a cross-sectional perspective the structures of social inequality
. He intended to apply the perspective of social reporting
or of social indicators
to historical processes and structures.
At the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research
(MZES) Rothenbacher contributed to the implementation of the infrastructural department Eurodata and the European statistics library. The research tradition of modernization (Peter Flora
) and of the territorial structuring of Europe (Stein Rokkan
) formed the basis for extensive long-term and comparative data collections for the European countries which appear in the data handbook series The Societies of Europe. For this series Rothenbacher wrote both volumes on the West European population. A supplementary volume on the East European population is in preparation.
Other research interests of Rothenbacher include European social reporting, the comparative analysis of the European public services
, and finally local historical research, as well.
Academic career
Rothenbacher since 1975 studied sociologySociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
at the University of Mannheim
University of Mannheim
The University of Mannheim is one of the younger German universities. It offers Bachelor, Master, and PhD degrees.The University is mainly located in Mannheim’s palace the largest baroque palace in Germany. The whole city center of Mannheim is aligned symmetrically to the palace.About 800 scholars...
and received his diploma degree in 1981.
Afterwords until mid-1982 he was research assistant at the special research group 3 Microanalytic Foundations of Social Policy, Frankfurt a.M. and Mannheim (Sonderforschungsbereich 3 Mikroanalytische Grundlagen der Gesellschaftspolitik).
From mid-1982 until 1988 Rothenbacher worked as lecturer and research fellow at the chair for sociology of Wolfgang Zapf at the Faculty for Social Sciences of the University of Mannheim. In 1988 he received a philosophers doctoral degree in sociology.
Since 1989 Rothenbacher is a social researcher at the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research
Mannheim Centre for European Social Research
The Mannheim Centre for European Social Research is an interdisciplinary research institute of the University of Mannheim, founded in 1989. It is located in the square A5 of the city of Mannheim nearby the Mannheim Palace....
(MZES) at the infrastructural department Eurodata.
Research
Rothenbacher in the beginning was interested in the long-term analysis of social changeSocial change
Social change refers to an alteration in the social order of a society. It may refer to the notion of social progress or sociocultural evolution, the philosophical idea that society moves forward by dialectical or evolutionary means. It may refer to a paradigmatic change in the socio-economic...
in Germany, also known as modernization
Modernization
In the social sciences, modernization or modernisation refers to a model of an evolutionary transition from a 'pre-modern' or 'traditional' to a 'modern' society. The teleology of modernization is described in social evolutionism theories, existing as a template that has been generally followed by...
. He analysed central long-term macrosocial processes
Macrosociology
Macrosociology is an approach to the discipline which emphasizes the analysis of social systems and populations on a large scale, at the level of social structure, and often at a necessarily high level of theoretical abstraction. Microsociology, by contrast, focuses on the individual social agency...
of change in the social subsystems of family, health, housing, and in a cross-sectional perspective the structures of social inequality
Social inequality
Social inequality refers to a situation in which individual groups in a society do not have equal social status. Areas of potential social inequality include voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, the extent of property rights and access to education, health care, quality housing and other...
. He intended to apply the perspective of social reporting
Quality of life
The term quality of life is used to evaluate the general well-being of individuals and societies. The term is used in a wide range of contexts, including the fields of international development, healthcare, and politics. Quality of life should not be confused with the concept of standard of...
or of social indicators
Quality of life
The term quality of life is used to evaluate the general well-being of individuals and societies. The term is used in a wide range of contexts, including the fields of international development, healthcare, and politics. Quality of life should not be confused with the concept of standard of...
to historical processes and structures.
At the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research
Mannheim Centre for European Social Research
The Mannheim Centre for European Social Research is an interdisciplinary research institute of the University of Mannheim, founded in 1989. It is located in the square A5 of the city of Mannheim nearby the Mannheim Palace....
(MZES) Rothenbacher contributed to the implementation of the infrastructural department Eurodata and the European statistics library. The research tradition of modernization (Peter Flora
Peter Flora
Peter Flora is an Austrian citizen and taught until his retirement in spring 2009 as a professor of sociology at the University of Mannheim.- Academic career :...
) and of the territorial structuring of Europe (Stein Rokkan
Stein Rokkan
Stein Rokkan was a Norwegian political scientist and sociologist. He was a professor in comparative politics at the University of Bergen.-Career and influence:...
) formed the basis for extensive long-term and comparative data collections for the European countries which appear in the data handbook series The Societies of Europe. For this series Rothenbacher wrote both volumes on the West European population. A supplementary volume on the East European population is in preparation.
Other research interests of Rothenbacher include European social reporting, the comparative analysis of the European public services
Public services
Public services is a term usually used to mean services provided by government to its citizens, either directly or by financing private provision of services. The term is associated with a social consensus that certain services should be available to all, regardless of income...
, and finally local historical research, as well.
Selected works
- Soziale Ungleichheit im Modernisierungsprozeß des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts. (Social Inequality during the Modernization Process of the 19th and 20th Centuries). Frankfurt/New York: Campus Verlag, 1989. (395 pp.)
- (in co-operation with Peter Flora, Franz Kraus and Heinz-Herbert Noll) Social Statistics and Social Reporting in and for Europe. Bonn: InformationsZentrum Sozialwissenschaften (IZ), 1994 (Europe in Comparison – A Series of Guidebooks for the Social Sciences, ed. by Heinrich Best and Peter Flora, vol. 1). (332 pp.).
- Historische Haushalts- und Familienstatistik von Deutschland 1815–1990. (Historical Household and Family Statistics of Germany 1815–1990). Frankfurt/New York: Campus Verlag, 1997. (383 pp.).
- Statistical Sources for Social Research on Western Europe: A Guide to Social Statistics. Opladen: Leske and Budrich, 1998 (Europe in Comparison – A Series of Guidebooks for the Social Sciences, ed. by Heinrich Best and Peter Flora, vol. 6). (399 pp.).
- The European Population 1850–1945. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire and New York, N.Y.: Palgrave, 2002 (The Societies of Europe, vol. 3). (xxviii+846 pp.+CD-ROM). Reprint 2006.
- The European Population since 1945. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire and New York, N.Y.: Palgrave, 2005 (The Societies of Europe, vol. 4). (xxx+1030 pp.+CD-ROM). Reprint 2006.